Etihad Airways new second daily service connects Melbourne to the world

The launch this weekend of Etihad Airways’ second daily non-stop service will connect Melbourne with more of the world’s great cities and create new opportunities for international commerce and trade.

Etihad Airways flight
EY462 will depart Abu Dhabi at 10:30am local time on Saturday 1 August and
touch down in Melbourne at approximately 6.05am on Sunday 2 August. The return
flight EY463 will depart Melbourne at 3:00pm on 2 August and arrive in Abu
Dhabi at 11.05pm the same day.

The new service will
be operated by a three-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with eight seats in
First Class, 40 in Business Class and 280 in Economy Class. It complements the
airline’s existing daily non-stop B777 flight between Melbourne and Abu Dhabi.

Etihad Airways’
President and Chief Executive Officer James Hogan said the launch of the
airline’s second daily flight would put Etihad Airways in its strongest ever
competitive position in the Melbourne market.

“Becoming the only
airline to offer double daily non-stop flights between Melbourne and the UAE
clearly demonstrates our ongoing commitment to
Victoria and exponentially increases the attractiveness of our customer
proposition.

“From August 1 we
will connect more international visitors to Melbourne from more markets in the
Middle East and Europe and will offer Melbournians the convenience of two daily
departures and one-stop connectivity to more than 50 great destinations.

“We also plan to
boost our economic contribution to the state of Victoria through the airline’s
successful freight division – Etihad Cargo. The addition of a second Boeing
777-300ER will double belly-hold cargo
capacity between Melbourne and Abu Dhabi and provide new
opportunities for bilateral trade with the UAE – Australia’s largest trading
partner in the Middle East.”

Etihad Airways will
now offer one-stop connectivity between Melbourne and popular destinations such
as Edinburgh, Geneva, Madrid and Zurich on the Etihad
Airways network, Stuttgart and Vienna operated by the Air Berlin Group, and
Venice operated by Alitalia, and improved connectivity to key destinations such
as Athens and Brussels.

The airline will also
offer double daily connectivity between Melbourne and Manchester, Dublin,
Beirut and London Heathrow, where guests will experience Etihad Airways’
flagship A380 aircraft. Etihad Airways will also offer double daily connections
to Rome and Milan in conjunction with Alitalia, Berlin and Düsseldorf with
airberlin, and Belgrade with Air Serbia.

The new double daily
schedule for Melbourne increases to 39 the total number of non-stop weekly
return flights the airline operates between its four Australian gateways. The
airline flies daily from Brisbane and Perth and offers double daily flights
from Sydney – 11 of which are operated by Etihad Airways and three which are
operated by partner Virgin Australia.

Etihad Airways also
codeshares on Virgin Australia flights to 44 destinations across Australia and
six in New Zealand.

The airline has
strong ties to Melbourne and the state of Victoria through partnerships with
Etihad Stadium, Melbourne City Football Club, Sport Australia Hall of Fame,
Melbourne Recital Centre and Islamic Museum of Australia.